Influencer marketing is one of the best marketing strategies. The modern version of word-of-mouth referrals, influencer marketing leverages the power of trust to influence groups of people.
Over the past few years, influencer marketing has become an essential part of the marketing landscape. In fact, it’s rare to find a brand that isn’t using it. Unlike other types of marketing, influencer marketing allows you to reach your target audience in an authentic, unique way.
The return on investment (ROI) is pretty impressive as well. For every $1 spent on influencer marketing campaign, the return is roughly $18, according to a benchmark report from Influencer Marketing Hub.
And everyone is talking about it. Whether you’ve gone searching or not, it’s likely that you’ve heard a lot about influencer marketing from the numerous posts, articles, and videos all over the internet.
There’s no shortage of misinformation, however. Brands may get confused over what influencer marketing is, what it isn’t, and how to get the best results out of their collaborations.
Take a look at this ultimate guide to influencer marketing to find answers to all your questions.
The Rise of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing may be a preferred method for brands today, but that wasn’t always the case. Initially, influencers were written off as a passing trend.But in the last several years, the value of influencer marketing became more apparent and it skyrocketed in popularity.The rise of influencer marketing coincided with the rise of social media as a legitimate marketing channel – or one that would replace traditional media outlets.
As more and more people took to social media to connect with brands, the television commercial fell by the wayside in favor of non-celebrity social media influencers who provided engaging content.
As time went on, some influencers gained massive follower counts. Though they weren’t on the same level as an A-list celebrity or professional athlete, they had influence that mattered.
Influencer marketing became a highly sought job opportunity and a major marketing strategy for brands in its own right. As brands noticed, more and more people to social media in hopes of becoming a top influencer themselves.
Now, younger generations are considering a career path as a YouTuber or Instagram influencer instead of a more traditional career path. As digital natives, they understand how to make this career successful.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
If you’re not exactly sure what influencer marketing entails and what you can gain from it, you’re not alone. Like other buzzwords or trends, the concept is tossed around a lot.
And with virtually no barrier to entry, a lot of people are calling themselves “influencers” without many qualifications, which can be a disadvantage for your brand.
Let’s dive a little deeper.
Why Does Influencer Marketing Matter?
Influencer marketing does a lot for a brand. Because it breaks down barriers once thought impossible, it can help brands reach goals without spending a lot of time or money.
The ultimate benefit may be to drive conversions, but that’s not all influencer marketing has to offer. Here are some other benefits.
Increased Revenue
The primary benefit of influencer marketing is increased sales, and by extension, increased revenue. Usually, this benefit comes without significant marketing spend, which is a rarity in the industry.
Social Proof
No matter what industry or type of business you’re in, social proof is vital to your brand’s success.
Humans are social creatures and want to “fit in.” We seek social acceptance. When we see something that other people like, we’re automatically more interested in it. That’s the driving force behind social proof and a huge benefit of influencer marketing.
Influencers amplify the impact of social proof because of their clout. Followers trust their opinion on products or services, but more than that, they can generate new trends.
Oddly, influencers don’t need to have followers in the millions to have a lot of social proof. If they have a smaller audience that’s highly engaged, they may still boast high levels of social proof.
Connection with the Audience
If you want to sell your products on social media, it’s important that you communicate your message to your target audience. With the rules, restrictions, and algorithms on social media, that isn’t as straightforward as it seems.
Influencers solve this problem by putting your message in front of the target audience, in a place they want to be, and from a voice they want to hear. Despite this power, influencers have an organic, authentic approach, which makes people more receptive to their recommendations.
Influencer Marketing Definition
Influencer marketing involves an online personality (influencer) collaborating with a brand to promote its products. Most influencers are on social media now, but that doesn’t mean influencers don’t exist for other marketing channels like personal blogs or vlogs.
Typically, an influencer will mention a brand or endorse a product to help improve brand recognition. In return, the brand compensates the influencer with pay, discounts, exclusive products, free products, or another type of incentive.
This is a simple breakdown of what an influencer is, but there are numerous types.
Social Media Influencers
Probably the best-known type of influencer, a social media influencer is a person who built a following and gained credibility within a niche. Some influencers work exclusively on one platform, such as Instagram influencers, YouTubers, and TikTokers.
These influencers have built an audience over time – sometimes years – and offer value to their audience. People who are interested in what the influencer has to say will follow them and keep up with their content, whether it’s in fashion and beauty or crypto and day trading, and consider their recommendations or opinions.
As a result, influencers can have an effect on what their followers purchase and which brands they appreciate and follow, which is where the value lies for a brand.
Essentially, a social media influencer leverages their authority and reputation to promote a product. Followers trust their expertise and opinions, often regarding them more as a close friend or family member making a recommendation, rather than a stranger on the internet.
In this way, brands can build more authentic exposure than what’s possible with just their own content marketing or paid advertising. Social media influencers may promote brands a variety of ways, including product endorsements, product reviews, brand ambassadorship, brand mentions, sponsored content, and more.
Types of Influencers
Celebrity Influencers
Celebrity influencers are typically famous for something else, such as actors, professional athletes, and singers. This gives them a sort of built-in following, which is then grown through their brand collaborations and promotions.
Think of celebrity influencers like celebrity endorsements. But instead of an athlete wearing the newest shoe on a television commercial, it’s all happening through their social media content.
If you want serious brand exposure, a celebrity influencer is in a unique category with reach, recognition, and follower count. Of course, that also makes them among the most expensive – and in-demand – influencers on the market.
Usually, enterprise companies that market products to consumers gain the most from working with celebrities on social media promotions – think luxury fashion like Gucci and major athletic brands like Nike.
That’s not to say that less prominent brands can’t gain exposure from celebrity influencers, especially if they can afford them. For example, many NFT and crypto companies are gaining attention from collaborations with celebrity influencers.
Macro Influencers
Macro influencers are influencers that have between 100,000 and a million followers. These influencers typically found their fame from the internet, and may include prominent bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, and other internet personalities.
Because they are also content creators, they know how to create content that compels and how to optimize it for social media. They also have a skill for user-generated content, which is an excellent way for a brand to get more exposure.
Macro influencers come with a higher price tag, but they’re more affordable than a celebrity or other public figure. They also offer a huge audience and plenty of social clout, which benefits your brand.
Micro Influencers
Micro influencers have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. They aren’t celebrities, either in the traditional sense or the influencer sense, but they have a dedicated, loyal audience. With their content, they’ve established themselves as an authority and a credible source of recommendations in a specific industry or niche.
Because their audience is smaller, these influencers have more personal connections and rapport with their audience and niche.
The communities are tight-knit and highly engaged.
In this case, bigger may not always be better – a macro influencer may have a bigger audience, but it’s about the percentage of people who follow through with a purchase. In this respect, micro influencers have an edge.
Nano Influencers
Nano influencers are the smallest influencers in terms of following, but they boast the best engagement overall. Usually, these influencers are within local or niche communities and have fewer than 1,000 followers.
These influencers may be more selective about the products and brands they endorse because of the close connection they have to their audience. Fortunately, the audience also knows that, so they’re less likely to question the authenticity of their endorsements.
Employees
This may be surprising, but brand employees can be among its most powerful advocates. Working at a brand offers unique insight into the business operations that can foster loyalty and advocacy, which is what makes these influencers so powerful.
Because employees directly contribute to what makes a company special, they have sway over the audience. Encouraging sharing on social media as part of the company culture is an ideal growth strategy for brands.
Customers
Another unexpected type of influencer, customers are valuable for word-of-mouth referrals. In fact, referrals drive some of the highest conversion rates of all marketing channels.
Think about it – when you’re looking for a new product or service, the first thing you may do is ask your friends or family for recommendations. You trust their opinions and know that they don’t have an ulterior motive, like making money off a sale, and you believe they’re sharing their honest experience.
This can work similarly with customers as brand advocates. Many people look at reviews and testimonials when they’re deciding on a purchase. If those reviews are positive, it can push them to complete the purchase.
Another opportunity to leverage customers is with a referral program. Referrals bring in tons of value over time. This isn’t quite as direct as paying for a sponsored post on social media with a true influencer, but it certainly offers value for your brand’s exposure and visibility.
Types of Influencer Marketing Content
Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is one of the most common methods of influencer marketing. This is essentially a social media post that promotes a product or service in the form of an advertisement.
Remember big-name athletes and the Wheaties commercials? Sponsored content is like that – the celebrity endorsement for the digital audience. The concept of getting a trusted name to back your brand is the same, but the way the content is offered is much different.
Once the content is created, it’s shared on the influencer’s social media account with a call-to-action (CTA) to encourage followers to make a purchase.
Typically, influencers will post about how they use a product or service as a personal anecdote. This is ideal because it’s more authentic and feels less like a salesy review or promotion, giving them more sway over the audience.
Another type of sponsored content that’s growing in popularity is the Instagram brand shoutout. This is usually a one-off promotion, but it can build a lot of attention for a brand very quickly.
Colloquially known as an Insta shoutout or IG shoutout, it’s essentially an influencer promoting a brand on their own Instagram account. This may take the form of a post or story created with the photo or mention of the brand or a product or service.
Affiliate Links
Discounts are popular with pretty much everyone. Influencer-specific discounts can be compelling for this reason, and that’s how affiliate or referral links are used.
Combined with sponsored content, influencers share their affiliate or referral link to direct their followers to complete their purchase. The brand can track the traffic and conversions from this specific link, which is how the influencer is compensated.
Contests/Giveaways
Free stuff is always popular. Influencers will often offer products or services in the form of contests or giveaways, and followers know they’re going to be from a brand or niche that they’re interested in.
Influencer contests and giveaways get a lot of attention. In just a short time, they can reach thousands more people than the influencer’s audience.
The key is that the prize needs to be something valuable to the audience and proportional to the effort they have to go to in order to participate.
For example, a gift card for $100 is fair in exchange for a like, comment, and share to enter the contest. A branded pen would not be.
Best of all, influencers know what their audiences like. They can devise interesting or creative ways to outline or promote a contest or giveaway, which increases the chances of success.
Brand Takeover
Influencers will typically share the products or services on their channels, depending on the terms of the collaboration.
For a changeup, brands can bring an influencer to their own channel. The benefit here is that they bring some of their audience (and traffic) with them, which can get a brand in front of new eyes.
This approach may be used for just a single post to gain more attention, or if you’re bold, you can opt for a big takeover. With the latter, you give an influencer control over your social media pages for a day to create and promote content.
Though effective, a brand takeover needs to have excellent communication and expectations in place in advance. Choosing the wrong influencer can have disastrous consequences to a brand reputation, but the right influencer can drive considerable traffic and conversions.
Brand Ambassadorship
If an influencer is a good fit for your brand, you can make them an official brand ambassador. With this approach, the influencer works for your brand for a set period of time as an ambassador to share content and promotions.
Appointing a brand ambassador has tons of advantages. It’s a long-term approach to influencer marketing and ensures that you have ongoing promotion for your products and services, and for the influencer, they can rely on consistent compensation for the period of ambassadorship.
Reviews
A common influencer marketing approach is to do a review of a product or service. This may be done for monetary compensation, but it’s usually in exchange for the product or service.
If you’ve seen an unboxing video or read a blog post reviewing a product, it’s likely that it was an influencer review. Generally, the influencer reviews a product or service they’ve never used before, and they disclose that the review was written in exchange for a free offer or compensation.
Like a sponsored post, this approach can be broad and flexible, allowing the influencer to create content to their preferences, or with strict guidelines. Naturally, the latter may create ethical gray areas. For example, if a brand asks an influencer to only say positive things.
Product and Content Collaborations
Instead of one-off campaigns, some brands work closely with influencers to create products or content together. This is typically seen in beauty and fashion industries and the influencers create a line of products under the brand.
For example, the international makeup brand Morphe collaborated with beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill to create a customized eyeshadow
palette (Jaclyn Hill X Morphe).
This is an involved strategy that’s simply impractical for some brands, especially if they’re manufacturing their own products. It’s usually seen with enterprise brands, but if you have the resources, you can pursue content collaboration.
How to Find Value for Your Brand with Influencer Marketing
Influencers come in a variety of celebrity levels. Celebrity, macro, micro, and nano influencers offer different levels of investment and engagement, so you can find the right one for any marketing budget.
Here are some factors to consider when planning your influencer marketing campaign.
Influencer Marketing Campaign Variables
Expertise: Consider if the content or product you’re promoting works for the influencer’s audience. Bigger isn’t better if it’s not your target audience.
Reach: Influencers should be on the same channels as your audience. Consider which channels have the majority of your audience, and choose influencers that have prominent presences on these same channels.
Demographic or Audience: As mentioned, your audience and the influencer’s audience should align. Make sure your buyer persona matches the influencer’s followers as well.
Celebrity vs. Notoriety: There really is such a thing as bad publicity. Just because an influencer has a big audience doesn’t mean they’re well liked – some people may follow them just to argue or to be part of the controversy. This is great for their numbers, but not so great for your own product promotion.
How to Find the Right Influencers
Influencers range in follower count and popularity, industry, niche, content type, and social media channels. It may take some work to find the right influencers, but it will mean all the difference in your campaign results.
Here’s how to find influencers for your brand.
Social Listening
Use a social listening tool to set up alerts for different influencer names, topics, industries, or hashtags. Over time, you’ll notice the same posts rising to the top over and over, and their engagement will be consistent. This is a good way to find the right influencers for your brand.
Find Influencers on Preferred Channels
Some influencers have activity on all social media channels, while others focus their efforts on one channel. While they may share this content on other channels, they’re designing the content around the preferred channel.
Look for influencers with preferred channels that overlap with your brand and your audience’s preferred channels. For example, if you have a teen audience, you’ll probably gain more from an influencer who’s active on Instagram or TikTok. Conversely, a B2B brand may have more traction with an influencer on YouTube or LinkedIn.
Once you find your influencers, take the opportunity to connect with them directly and pitch a collaboration. If possible, build a relationship by sharing and commenting on their content to get your brand on their radar.
Analyze Performance
Consider the influencer’s performance across different social media channels. Does the influencer get a million likes on a post on one channel but not the others? Consider whether their highly active channels and audiences intersect with your own.
How to Organize an Influencer Marketing Campaign
Influencer marketing campaigns often include research and strategizing, influencer outreach, setting goals, and more. Here’s how to plan an influencer marketing campaign.
1. Research
As mentioned, you need to find influencers that use the same channels and have similar audiences to your brand’s channels and audience. Analyze the demographics of your own audience and the audiences of your competitors.
Then, research common hashtags and look for the top influencers in your industry. You can find plenty of lists that rank the top macro, micro, and nano influencers for different industries or niches.
You can also use social listening tools to find conversations around hashtags, influencers, or your brand and products. Look for influencers with the right audience size, industry, and budget for your brand.
2. Connect on Social Media
Once you have some influencers in mind, build a connection on social media by liking, sharing, and commenting on their posts. Make sure to follow all the influencers you’re interested in. You’ll not only learn more about how they interact with their audiences and what type of content they produce, but you may have an opportunity to reach out and discuss a collaboration.
3. Start Your Outreach
Whether you build a connection on social media or not, you can start with outreach. Your pitch should be delivered in platform messages or email, whichever the influencer prefers.
Be honest about your goals and what you’re looking for, and be sure to share why you’ve chosen that particular influencer.
Maybe they have a unique approach or you can see how much the audience loves them. Whatever it is, make sure to mention it.
4. Define the Campaign Guidelines
You should always have a detailed campaign plan to work with influencers. This should include the terms of the arrangement, your goals, the budget, and what services you’re asking for.
When you’re determining a budget, be sure to consider the leads you’ll be generating. Compare metrics like cost per lead, cost per click, and more for automated channels like paid social ads or paid search ads. Remember, influencer marketing boasts a high ROI, so you don’t want to skimp on the services.
You can expect to pay more than a nonspecific audience, since influencers’ followers are less targeted with ads than brand accounts. You’re likely to get more engaged and higher-quality content and advertising from the influencer than your own paid efforts.
You should also define your timeline, goals, KPI list, or other specifics, such as the number of posts. If you have requirements or restrictions for how the influencer can promote your brand, make sure they’re included. Also, outline and legal restraints if they apply to your industry, such as age restrictions on content about alcohol or adult products for minors.
Keep your goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound). The more you can outline your goals, the easier it will be to see if you’re on track to reach them. If a goal isn’t on track to succeed, you have an idea of how you can improve your efforts.Another key component is the target audience. Outline your key demographic or buyer persona, or multiple, if that applies. Be specific and detailed to ensure your influencer understands.
Your contract should detail the deliverables, the fee, and payment timeline and method. This ensures no dispute will arise later.
Influencers need as much information as possible to promote your brand effectively, so make sure they have it. Provide your brand style guidelines to help the influencer capture your brand’s personality. You should also agree on messaging and provide some examples of posts that you like and ones you don’t.
5. Tracking Performance
Influencer marketing has performance metrics like any other marketing campaign. Here are some ways you can measure performance:
Use tracked links to measure traffic, engagement, and conversions
Create a branded landing page to measure ROI
Map out keyword targets that you want to see improved because of the collaboration
Track engagement metrics like views, clicks, likes, shares, and mentions
Track your social media analytics and referrals to see if you have an increase in traffic or followers as a result of the collaboration
6. Payment
Some influencers will have a set price for posts or campaigns. In most cases, an influencer will charge a fee for posting and the results are proposed, but not guaranteed (like any marketing campaign).
Affiliate marketing campaigns are set up differently and paid based on leads, clicks, or sales from the affiliate link.
The type of influencer can have a big impact on their rates. Micro influencers may charge anywhere from $80 to $500 per post, while a macro or celebrity influencer may charge between $3,000 and $500,000 per post.
Nano influencers are usually at the start of their career, so they may be more flexible in promoting your brand in exchange for products.
7. Analytics
A key aspect of an influencer marketing campaign is analyzing its performance. Though not an exact science with a guarantee, influencer marketing should still have a measurable impact on your brand.
Once a campaign or post has been live for a few days or a week, you can start tracking metrics like:
Engagement, such as likes, shares, comments, reposts or retweets
Impressions, which are the number of times content was viewed
Reach, which is the number of followers an influencer has on a social media channel
Conversion, or how many people took action because of a piece of content, such as completing a purchase
Influencer Marketing Checklist
When you’re working with an influencer, or multiple influencers, it can be easy to lose track of all the information you need. This information is important to organize, however, since it will inform your future efforts..
Campaign Checklist
- Campaign brief
- Creative release agreement
- Terms and conditions of the contract
- Non-disclosure agreement
- Brand or content guidelines
- CRM for tracking campaigns
- Social media management tools to monitor keywords and hashtags
- Payments, both pending and completed
- ROI
- Post performance and data
- Audience, demographics, and buyer persona
- Engagement
Best Practices for Working with Influencers
Do:
- Pay influencers on time and for the amount that’s agreed upon in the contract. If you want to build a future relationship and develop a good reputation for future collaborations with others, you want to treat your influencer with courtesy and respect.
- Offer feedback and ask for it in return. Offer as much information as you can to help the influencer execute your vision. If content is vague or doesn’t perform well because you didn’t communicate well, you’re not being respectful of the influencer’s time.
- Set and track goals for yourself, the influencer, and your collaboration. These should be written and agreed upon before the contract is official.
- Send thank-you notes after a campaign or introduction to show your appreciation.
- Interact with your influencers frequently on social media and commit to sharing their content to help them succeed, even after your collaboration is over.
Challenges with Influencer Marketing – and How to Solve Them
Influencer marketing is highly effective, but it’s growing into a huge industry. Naturally, that attracts some unsavory individuals. Here are some common issues you may run into, as well as possible solutions to help you make the most of your influencer marketing campaigns.
Fake Followers
If you suspect an influencer has fake or purchased followers, don’t jump to conclusions. Track their patterns to see if there are random spikes or dips in engagement, which is a telltale sign of purchased engagement.
You should also look for a disproportionate ratio of followers and likes. If an influencer has thousands of followers with only a few likes,
that’s likely because the followers aren’t real people.
Another way to check is by looking at where the followers are located. While any influencer can attract people outside of their normal locations, too many may indicate fake followers.
Stolen Identities
Some influencers have their images or identities stolen by another, which can be difficult to spot and combat. Make sure you verify any images of an influencer by performing a Google search. Pay attention to not only current photos, but older photos, and conduct a reverse image search. If someone stole an influencer’s images or identity, it should become obvious quickly.
Bots
Similar to fake followers, some influencers artificially inflate their performance with bot followers and comments. Look for unnatural sounding or suspicious comments, usernames, or activities.
For example, a bot may send an awkward comment to multiple people on a thread, making it obvious that it isn’t a real person. Bots sometimes use odd characters, language,
sentence structure, or spacing.
Not all influencers with bots purchased them – though some do. Influencers may also attract a lot of bots and spam, but that’s no less of a red flag. This could mean that they’re not policing their page and maintaining standards, which is a concern for how this will all reflect on your brand.
Tracking ROI
Your campaign or posts should have specific usernames or URLs, allowing you to divide the campaign into likes, comments, shares, reach, traffic, and more. Once you have that information, you can determine how successful the campaign was, and by extension, if the ROI is worth it.
Key Influencer Marketing Terms
Influencer Marketing Channels
- Snapchat
- Blogs
- YouTube
- Newsletter
- Digital or print ads
- Television
Influencer Content Types
- Blog posts
- Instagram posts or stories
- Facebook posts
- Twitter posts or videos
- Sponsored Facebook Live content
- Snapchat videos or photos
- Email campaigns
- YouTube videos
- LinkedIn videos or posts
- Magazine articles
- Television appearances
Get Started with Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing may seem overwhelming if you’re not familiar with all the ins and outs. After rising in popularity, influencer marketing gained tons of attention as a way to promote word-of-mouth recommendations to much larger audiences in an authentic way.
With influencers catering to just about every industry and budget, there’s no reason that every company can’t pursue a collaboration and launch a campaign.
Influencer Marketing from Crowdcreate
Looking for expert guidance with your influencer marketing campaigns? Crowdcreate offers a full-service, one-stop-shop marketing agency to help you connect with the top Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube influencers for sponsored content. Book a call today to see what we can do for you!
